Subtitle: THE OBJECTIVE revealed that emissaries of Sánchez and the Moroccan kingdom met in early 2022 to resolve the diplomatic crisis.
The Spanish government is avoiding answering whether it has addressed the Pegasus spyware affair with Morocco. In a parliamentary response obtained by THE OBJECTIVE, the government states that this matter « does not form part of bilateral relations with Morocco, [with whom it is united by] a relationship of neighborliness within a framework of cooperation. » However, it does not rule out that emissaries of Pedro Sánchez’s executive met with leaders of the Moroccan kingdom to resolve the diplomatic crisis in early 2022, as this newspaper reported. Following those meetings, Spain made a historic shift in its position on the Western Sahara, aligning its stance with the aspirations of King Mohammed VI.
A Question from the PP Avoided
In February of last year, following this newspaper’s revelations, the Popular Party (PP) asked the government how many bilateral meetings with Morocco had addressed the Pegasus spyware affair — the Israeli-origin software that infected Sánchez’s mobile phone and those of three ministers. Spain’s National Court filed the investigation last January due to a lack of cooperation from Israeli authorities, meaning the authorship of the attacks could not be determined. The PP deputies also asked the government how the crisis had affected relations with the Moroccan kingdom.
The government’s response avoids explaining whether any conversation, even informal, took place with Moroccan leaders about Pegasus. The reply stresses that the matter is not part of bilateral relations with the Moroccan regime and that both countries are united by a relationship of neighborliness and cooperation, as demonstrated by the 12th High-Level Meeting (RAN) held last December 4.
Chaired by Sánchez and his Moroccan counterpart Aziz Akhannouch, that meeting resulted in the signing of fourteen agreements on topics ranging from migration and security to the joint bid for the 2030 World Cup and Spain’s position on the Western Sahara. However, the joint declaration contains no mention of the crisis sparked by Pegasus.
Spyware Revealed Late
The government publicly admitted on May 2, 2022, that Sánchez’s phone had been infected with Pegasus. The following day, National Court judge José Luis Calama opened a judicial investigation. The State Attorney’s Office expanded the complaint on May 10, after analyses revealed that the mobile devices of the Defense Minister Margarita Robles, Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska, and Agriculture Minister Luis Planas had also been compromised.
As THE OBJECTIVE revealed, the data theft occurred a year earlier, but the government concealed it. The infection of Sánchez’s phone took place during a visit to Ceuta in May 2021, following the mass arrival of irregular migrants after Morocco relaxed border security measures. The Pegasus spyware was deployed using a sophisticated technique called « zero click, » which requires no link to be clicked and operates without being detected.
Just 48 hours later, an Israeli private jet linked to the NSO Group (the creator of the spyware) landed in Málaga to discuss the matter. This began an intense round of contacts with Spanish intelligence to contain the damage, according to testimonies gathered by this newspaper. Sánchez unsuccessfully demanded that Israel hand over the material Morocco had extracted from his phone. The president’s emissaries even flew to Tel Aviv to try to identify what data had been stolen from the 2.6 gigabytes extracted from the device — but they never received that information.
Secret Meetings in January 2022 to Bury the Crisis
To bury the crisis, emissaries from Morocco and Spain met twice in January 2022, once in Marrakech and once in Málaga. The negotiations involved three parties, with Israeli presence. The Moroccan kingdom committed to not using the obtained material against Sánchez’s interests. Furthermore, Rabat promised it would never again use espionage systems like Pegasus against any member of the Spanish government, authority, or agent.
Just two months after those meetings, in March 2022, Spain made a historic shift in its traditional position on the Western Sahara. The rupture between Spain and Morocco began when it emerged that the government had agreed to treat Polisario Front leader Brahim Ghali in a hospital in La Rioja. Sánchez did not inform either Congress or his own Council of Ministers of the change in advance, contradicting decades of consensus foreign policy.
On March 18, 2022, Morocco triumphantly announced that King Mohammed VI had received a letter in which Sánchez expressed openness to supporting the autonomy plan that Rabat presented to the UN in 2007. The Spanish president described it as « the most serious and realistic basis » for resolving a half-century-old conflict.
Eight Months of Crisis, and Millions in Aid
The Pegasus crisis lasted eight months — the same amount of time it took the government to accept the armistice proposed by Rabat through Israeli mediators. During that time, Spain continued to meet every financial commitment it had made to Rabat. For example, in June 2021, just one month after the Ceuta incidents and the Pegasus spyware attack, Spain’s Interior Ministry awarded Morocco €30 million in aid to cover « operational costs » and maintenance for the Moroccan police in border surveillance.
#Morocco #Spain #espionage #Pegasus #Western_Sahara #Ceuta #migration